


brother (let me be your shelter)

by MusicLover500



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Gen, Jack Kline and Dean Winchester Jr. are brothers, Post-Episode: s15e20 Carry On, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:27:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27706913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicLover500/pseuds/MusicLover500
Summary: Snippets of Dean Winchester Jr.'s interactions with his older brother, Jack Kline, throughout his life.
Relationships: Jack Kline & Dean Winchester Jr. (Supernatural: Carry On), Mentioned Dean Winchester Jr./Original Female Characters, background Sam Winchester/Eileen Leahy - Relationship
Comments: 9
Kudos: 72





	brother (let me be your shelter)

**Author's Note:**

> Might turn this into a series of Dean Winchester Jr's experiences in heaven with everyone, idk. Also, I feel like one of the only people semi-okay with the finale???? Like there's stuff I wasn't a fan of (Dean's death was kind of... a let down? I get WHY they did it but also seems so... unclimactic considering everything the brothers have survived and why no mention of whoever Sam's wife was???? For me it's Eileen but they couldn't have at least given a name? And Sam not having any pictures of his wife, Dean Jr, Jack, or anyone else in that last scene just seemed odd tbh).
> 
> I also find it ironic I have many other oneshots/fics I'm working on (including my Vampire Diaries x Harry Potter crossover that no one likes but I've been working on it since like 2013 so damn it I WILL find a way to finish it) but this is what I manage to finish. Let's see if I have any luck with my other oneshots...
> 
> Sorry about the weird ending. To quote Chuck: "Endings are hard".

The first time Dean Jr met Jack Kline, all he was able to remember was a feeling of _safety_ not unlike what he felt when held or near his mom and dad, on account of being just shy of six months old. It isn’t until he finds himself reunited with his dad and the rest of his family that died before he was born or along the way that he is able to recall the entire memory properly.

(It must be the dead of night, Sam and Eileen managing to get a few precious hours of sleep while Dean Jr slept through the night. Or so they thought. Standing next to the crib, holding an awake Dean Jr is what appears to be a young adult. The young man is gently rubbing baby Dean Jr’s back to soothe him.

“You need to go easier on your parents, okay? They need to sleep also. I really don’t want to deal with your Uncle Dean if the reason he ends up seeing your Dad so soon is because of sleep deprivation.”

Little Dean Jr could care less about the man’s words, instead choosing to bask in the feeling of safety and attention he was receiving.

The man’s voice goes softer, almost with a sad edge to it, at his next words. “You have no idea how lucky you are, to have a man like Sam as your father. He’ll be the best father you could ever ask for. Trust me.”)

\--

Dean Jr grew up hearing tales from his mom and dad, especially his dad. Tales of his Uncle Dean, Uncle Cas, his numerous other aunts and uncles and cousins, and his older brother, Jack. His favorites were always about his Uncle Dean and brother Jack.

(He was asked to draw his family one day in school. With all the artistic ability a 5 year old possess, he drew his family. When asked who all the people in the background were, Dean Jr responded by listing off all their names. Auntie Jody, Uncle Garth and Aunt Bess, Uncle Adam, Auntie Rowena, his cousins Gertie, Sam, Cas, Claire, Kaia, Patience, Alex. When asked who the stick man labeled ‘Jack’ was, he simply responded: “My older brother. He’s busy so I never get to see him, but dad says he’s always with us.”

His teacher, hearing of Dean Jr having a brother for the first time, asks what Jack does.

“Oh, he’s God! My dad doesn’t like to talk about it, ‘cause it makes him sad.”)

(The teacher chalks it up to an overactive imagination and brings it up, jokingly, to Sam and Eileen during parent-teacher night at Dean Jr’s school. Eileen reaches over to squeeze Sam’s hand. He knows why Jack swore to be hands off, but moments like this makes him wish he could stop by, just to properly meet his younger brother.)

(Little does Sam know, Jack does visit Dean Jr - rarely, always when he’s alone, and never for long. The older Dean Jr gets, the more he starts to question why Jack never lets Sam or Eileen know he’s around. He never gets a real answer, just a sad smile and hair ruffle - no matter how old he gets.)

\--

Jack’s visits may be infrequent, but he always manages to show up whenever Dean Jr seems to need him. Part of being literally God, he assumes. When Miracle dies peacefully in his sleep when Dean Jr is eight and he stands by the little gravesite they dug for him, there’s a flutter of wings he knows by now belongs to Jack and an arm wrapped around his shoulder.

When Dean Jr’s long term girlfriend breaks up with him right before prom, his first real heartbreak, Jack spends the night telling Dean Jr all sorts of different stories - about the different galaxies he’s visited, how the rest of their family seems to be doing in heaven. Anything to distract him.

One of the rare fights Dean Jr had with his parents was over hunting. Dean Jr wanted to go into it, not just learn about protections and psychic-ness and spells from his dad and Aunt Rowena (when she’s able to to visit).

“It’s the family business!” He screamed. “You did it, mom did it, Uncle Dean did it; even Uncle Cas and Jack did it! It’s what we do!”

“And look where that got most of them! Dead! I don’t want that life for you. I don’t want to have to constantly worry if you’re going to come home, if you’re going to end up like - ” His dad’s raised voice cuts off suddenly, and Dean Jr knows he was about to mention his Uncle Dean.

“ _That’s not your decision to make_! It’s mine!”

When he receives no back up from his mom, Dean Jr decides he’s had enough. He doesn’t bother grabbing any car keys, just slams the front door shut and runs. He eventually comes to a stop in a nearby patch of woods, out of breath and sliding down to sit by a tree.

“What, now you’re going to stop me?” He irritably snaps when he hears the flutter of Jack’s wings.

“You said it yourself, it’s your choice. But… Sam and Eileen just want to protect you.”

And Jack sits down beside him on the ground, just being there for Dean Jr to vent to, eventually confessing that he doesn’t want to _really_ be a hunter like dad and Uncle Dean were, maybe more like what Uncle Garth and his dad currently do, provide resources and whatnot. But even if he wanted to be a typical hunter, his parents should respect that. Jack advises him to bring it up with his parents when he goes back.

Eventually, his parents come around to the idea of him taking over for his dad and Uncle Garth as a source of resources and whatnot for hunters. His dad still makes him go to school though, where he chooses to pursue psychology, just so Dean Jr will have something to fall back on.

\--

The next few times Dean Jr sees Jack, it is after his parent’s funerals. Of all of his experiences, losing both his parents within months of each other was the worst. His mom went first, a result of a particularly bad case of pneumonia. His dad’s health already wasn’t good, and he wasn’t surprised when a couple months later, he’s telling him that it’s okay, that he can go be with Uncle Dean and everyone else now.

Both of their bodies were given hunter’s funerals, and Dean Jr takes the trip to the Grand Canyon to spread both of their ashes, the same place he knows his dad spread his Uncle Dean’s, almost fifty years ago.

After both funerals, Jack stays the longest he ever has, longer than when he helped Dean Jr with his first heartbreak. Both times, Dean Jr finds toast waiting for him the following morning. After his dad’s, though, when he is going through his childhood house and cleaning it out so he can move in, he finds little Post-It notes all over the place, reminding him to take care of himself and not live up to his namesake’s high functioning alcoholism.

(When he finally meets his Uncle Dean, years later, the man pretends to be offended at Jack’s words but the sound of his dad’s laughter and the uptick of Uncle Dean’s mouth tells him he really wasn’t all that offended.)

\--

Within a few years, Dean Jr meets a young woman named Allison. The two hit off, and before long they start dating. She moves in with him after a year of dating, and within three years they were married.

The day of the wedding, the weather was perfect. Before the ceremony, he looks up at the sky, smiles, and whispers a ‘thank you’ to Jack.

\--

He’s the proud father of a pair of twins, a boy and girl, named Rick (after Allison’s father) and Samantha (in honor of his father). When he hears them cry, he lets Allison sleep and goes to check on them himself. He finds Jack with one tucked into each arm.

(That also happens to be the night Dean Jr has to come clean to Allison about his family, because naturally she’s a _little_ freaked out to find a stranger holding their babies - a stranger her husband calls ‘brother’ despite that being impossible.)

(Much like when Dean Jr was little, Rick and Samantha grow up including their ‘Uncle Jack’ in family assignments.)

\--

It’s rather ironic, really, that he dies of a heart attack. After all, that was supposed to be one of the ways his Uncle Dean was supposed to die. There’s pain in his chest, a feeling like he has trouble breathing, and suddenly Dean Jr finds himself standing outside his house - only it looks like it did from his childhood, instead of the changes him and Allison had made.

There’s no telltale flutter of wings when Jack arrives, he’s just suddenly _there_. And he quickly puts the pieces together.

There are many different things that run through Dean Jr’s mind - asking if his parents are in the house, for one, if he’ll get to see everyone he’s lost and who he never got a chance to meet - but instead all that comes out is: “I’m still going to be able to see you, right?”

“Why wouldn’t you be able to?” Despite being older than him, and able to travel whenever and wherever he wants to, Jack still sometimes sounds so confused by stuff Dean Jr says. And it makes him laugh.

He reaches out and pulls the other into an actual, proper hug for the first time. “Just wanted to make sure. It won’t be the same without my brother occasionally dropping in.”

“Hey! Both of you, get in here! Quit hogging my nephew all to yourself, you’ve had literal decades with him!” An unfamiliar voice hollers out from the front door.

“Dean.” And that’s his dad’s voice, younger than he remembers but so familiar and comforting all the same.

Suddenly his Uncle Dean and his dad start bickering from within the house, and Dean Jr is pretty sure he hears his mom’s voice interject, followed by an unfamiliar gravelly voice, and Jack is laughing in his ear, and he finds he doesn’t miss Allison or Rick or Samantha quite as much as he thought he would.

After all, they’d be along soon.


End file.
